If today the dream of any endurance team is to topple the seemingly unstoppable Audi, back in the 1970s and early 1980s Porsche was the target. The 936 and 935 had delivered quartet of victories over a six-year period when in 1981 the first intimations of interest from the Aston Martin camp were heard. Aston Martin enthusiast Robin Hamilton, who twice campaigned a prototype V8, including finishing the 24 Hours in 1977, believed that there was the potential for a long-distance  sports car powered by the same engine.

He was encouraged by the new Group C Regulations, introduced on January 1, 1982. Key points were a stipulated minimum dry weight of 800kg, the banning of skirts – although ground-effect venturi were permitted – and a maximum fuel capacity of 100 litres (22 imperial gallons). This had the effect of limiting competitors to five refuelling stops over a 1000km distance, equal to 25 stops at Le Mans.

The engine choice was free, providing the manufacturer had any cars homologated within Groups A or B. Hamilton set about designing a car around the IMSA regulations for competition in the US, but the technical requirements were to prove very different to Group C. He brought in Eric Broadley of Lola cars to design the chassis, which drew on the design of the Lola T70. When there was a further change in the control of Aston Martin, with American Peter Sprague and debonair Englishman Alan Curtis calling it a day, Hamilton judged that the time was now ripe to approach the company.

Arch enthusiast Victor Gauntlett had just become the new chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda and also retained the same position at Pace Petroleum, the independent fuel company. Hamilton had tapped into a kindred spirit and the outcome was the founding of Nimrod Racing Automobiles.

‘I contacted Michael Bowler at the factory at the end of 1981,’ says Mallock, ‘when I heard that Aston was planning a comeback into sports car racing. I was invited to one of the tests in early 1982 and, subsequently, to drive the Richard Williams-managed and Viscount Downe-owned chassis.

Lord Downe was very much a Le Mans enthusiast and entrant, with Richard Williams managing his teams. My involvement started as a driver and one of the test drivers for the team.

I had previously worked with Williams when he was team manager for the Fisons Lola I first drove at Le Mans. When I drove the Nimrod it was apparent that both the aerodynamics and the suspension required work so we quickly got stuck into a development programme, which involved modifications to the front splitter and the rear wing area and various ducting

‘Ray Mallock was a fundamental part of the group that kept the Newport Pagnell marque in the forefront of sports car racing’ details around the original Robin Hamilton body shape. For the suspension, my father Arthur [creator of the Mallock U2 cars] carried out the initial analysis on his computer programme.

This showed that the roll-centres and camber curves weren’t as they should be for the tyres. We instigated suspension geometry modifications and spring and roll-bar changes and hose resulted in a much more user-friendly car that handled much more consistently. We were regularly able to outpace the works car. We didn’t have a spare engine and we were only using around 6500 revs. We were able to out-qualify them and finish all our races that year.’

Le Mans 1982 was a triumph for the Viscount Downe car. Entered jointly under his and the Pace Petroleum banner, the number 32 car was driven by Ray Mallock, Mike Salmon and Simon Phillips. Running as high as third in a race ultimately dominated by the Porsche 956s of Jacky Ickx/Derek Bell, Jochen Mass/Vern Schuppan and Al Holbert/Hurley Haywood/ Jurgen Barth, the Nimrod covered its 2684.93 miles at an average speed of 111.87mph to finish seventh overall.

‘The car ran beautifully until around 7am, when we suffered a burnt valve and spent quite a lot of time trying to analyse the problem,’ says Mallock. ‘We were lying third behind the Porsche 956s during the night and were running a competitive fourth/fifth place, which was quite an incredible performance.’

Despite a season that had seen the Aston Martin Nimrod finishing third in the World Sportscar  Championship, courtesy of Mallock and Salmon taking another seventh at Spa, it was obvious that with the car weighing some 200kg more than the rival Porsches, changes would have to be made if it was to become competitive for 1983. Robin Hamilton decided to take his Nimrod to the US and the Viscount Downe car became, to all intents and purposes, the works entry.

Additional sponsorship came from housebuilder/developer Bovis. ‘I talked to Lord Downe and Victor Gauntlett about the need to improve the body design and we agreed a budget for producing a wind tunnel model going to MIRA,’ says Mallock.

‘We developed a complete new body shape to give us more downforce and less drag. The 1982 cars had an extension to the windscreen, which we called the taxi sign, to meet the minimum height requirement. This incurred a huge drag penalty.

‘We embarked on a programme through the winter months to improve the aerodynamics and reduce the weight of the car. We were a lot more successful on the aerodynamics than the weight because it was very difficult to do much with the fundamental chassis, suspension, the engine itself and the Hewland VG gearbox. The wind tunnel work paid dividends: we reduced the drag by about ten percent and increased the downforce by a factor of three. The net result was that at the Total re-styling of the Mangusta resulted in an MG that looked both far more purposeful and aggressive.

Performance
Top speed 220mph
Weight: 1000kg (2205lb)

‘It was obvious that with the car weighing some 200kg more than the rival Porsches, changes would have to be made for 1983’

‘Stevens and Casarini are united in their view that weight saving is free horsepower. A maximum weight of 1450kg was the aim’ Le Mans, using the same chassis, suspension and tyres, the Nimrod was 11 seconds a lap faster between ’82 and ’83.’

The 1983 Le Mans was dominated by the Porsche 956, taking nine of the top ten places. Despite the aerodynamic improvements and the weight saving, the Nimrod was well off the Porsche qualifying pace. But Le Mans is about being there at 4pm on Sunday afternoon. The Nimrod trio of Mallock/Salmon and American Steve Earle looked set for a strong finish until, after 17 hours 13 minutes of racing, the normally reliable Aston V8 threw a rod and the garage shut for the last time.

For 1984 the Nimrod was to return to the 24 Hours, this time as a two-car team. In the US, the Hamilton team was acquired by British amateur sports car racer John Cooper. His Daytona 24 Hours entry, where he drove with Bob Evans and Paul Smith, made seventh. Unfortunately a change of plans saw the end of his involvement and the car came to Europe.

Such was the pace of the Porsche 956 opposition that Tickford turbocharged the V8, to produce a reputed 710bhp. An example ran at the pre-Le Mans Silverstone race but lost its oil.

Despite this, and with the cars reverting to normally aspirated form, Le Mans was approached with optimism. The works Porsches were not participating, although the 956 teams of Joest Racing, Brun Motorsport and Porsche Kremer Racing were there.

In the event, the two Bovis-liveried Nimrods ran strongly until a deflated tyre saw John Sheldon crash heavily on the Mulsanne Straight. He was lucky to escape with his life after suffering severe burns. Tragically, a marshal was killed in the incident.

The other Nimrod, driven by Drake Olson sharing with Mallock, then lying in fifth, was eliminated as a result of the same accident. Olson was unsighted by a Porsche and crashed into the Armco while trying to avoid the blazing wreckage. It was a dreadful end.

A minuscule budget had brought the Aston Martin name back into the endurance arena. Happily, the Mallock/Olson car is restored to its original race condition in the ownership of Roger Bennington and regularly seen in historic Group C events. Mallock has been preparing the car for the past couple of years. ‘I jumped at the chance. It is such a driver-friendly car and it’s great to get back behind the wheel again – and it has also given me the opportunity to drive with my son Michael,’ says the RML MD, who’s back at Le Mans
again in 2005 with the LMP2 Lola-MG EX264.